Inscription
by bladewielder05
Summary: The worlds' only hope for the Keyblade wielder to protect them. However, before Sora even came to each world, a boy had to prepare for his arrival. Chosen by a Keyblade with the strange power to record enemies, Seiko found himself fighting against the Heartless with two new friends, unknowing of the danger to come. For how can a Keyblade survive when it cannot lock a world's heart?
1. Chapter 1: The Keyblade's Choice

**So...I suddenly got this idea and urge to write a new Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. After thinking for a while, I finally found it. Hopefully, I'll actually be able to finish this story instead of leaving it incomplete. So...yeah...hope you guys enjoy. Please review to show me that I'm not a complete failure. And...GO READ!**

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The Keyblade's Choice

_Significant things are made of insignificant factors. Some people believe themselves to be more significant than others, and others believe themselves to be more insignificant than some people. Can the insignificant change their ways to become a significant? One that can change the world?_

_…I doubt it…_

The sixteen-year-old boy stopped walking. A weak breeze tried to urge him on, blowing his light, blue jacket and dark, black hair forward. He kept his hands in the pocket of his two-layered pants as he waited for the breeze to die down. Or, perhaps, he was thinking about the thought that stole his mind. Either way, his distractions kept him from noticing two other boys hiding behind a neighborhood tree. They grinned at each other before creeping up to the other boy.

"Yo, Seiko!" the taller boy wrapped his arm around Seiko's neck. He grinned from ear-to-ear, "How you've been?"

Seiko feebly tried to pry the other's arm away. He knew trouble was brewing. Trouble always brewed whenever Itachi was involved. As was Seiko's nature, he wanted no part of it. He had a bad feeling that it had something to do with his sister. The boy heard from his peers that Nori was, apparently, the cutest girl in their grade. What does that make him then? "What do you want, Itachi?"

"Come on! What's wrong with friends wanting to hang out?" Itachi shook Seiko's shoulder. His smaller friend nodded in complete agreement.

"Yeah! What's wrong with wanting to hang out?"

"Shut up, Taro," Itachi snapped. He looked back at Seiko, "Well?"

The boy finally lifted Itachi's arm away from his neck. He backed off a few paces. "Stay away," Seiko turned and ran off, leaving the two boys in the dust. He ran off so suddenly that they didn't have time to react. After four seconds of inactivity, the two boys started to run after Seiko. By this time, the boy had gone a bit more than half a block and was still running.

"You better get back here, Seiko!" Itachi's voice was no longer friendly. Loud and threatening, it made chills run down Seiko's spine. He sped up his pace to avoid confrontation. The boy was already fast enough, but panic resulted an increase in speed. He sent autumn leaves flying into the air. They fluttered down, only to be picked up again by the strong wind. Down the empty sidewalk, Seiko finally reached his house. Without slowing down, the boy bounded up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind him. Seiko breathed a sigh of relief among the hard panting from his run.

"Seiko? Is that you?" long, black hair streamed from behind the girl who magically appeared in front of the boy. The fourteen-year-old girl looked at her twin with concern. "Was it Itachi again?" she asked warily. She was familiar with the talk amongst the boys herself. She also knew that most of them tried to reach her through her younger brother, no matter how much she or he disliked it. Itachi was one of the more persistent ones, constantly trying to get Seiko to ask his sister for him.

Seiko ran a hand through his black hair. He avoided his twin's gaze, sealing his lips. That was all Nori needed to confirm her suspicions. She sighed in resignation. Her brother wasn't one of the more assertive people. Maybe that was why the boys kept calling for him.

"Seiko, one of these days, you're going to have to show that idiot who's boss. Why do you keep running away from him?" she scolded. Her twin continued to stand in silence as she rained lecture after lecture on his ears. Even though she lectured him almost once everyday, Nori always managed to find some new fault within her brother to scold. After her fourth lecture, she gave another sigh. "Go change. Dinner's almost ready."

The boy nodded his understanding. Placing his shoes on the rack, he donned his blue slippers to walk in his house. Nori had returned to the kitchen where a delicious smell rose from. Seiko paused for a moment, taking in the sweet aroma. Then he turned to the left towards his room. After a busy day today, Seiko was looking forward to the meal Nori had prepared. He decided to care for his garden right after he was done with dinner. He had to do something about his plants to prevent them from blowing away. Already, the gentle breeze from before beat against the window panels as a malevolent wind.

…

Meradee watched his friend, a tall, golden-hair boy, with interest. The boy ran towards one of his targets, his cestus gleaming in the afternoon sun. He slashed at the wood, each carved in the shape of a man, with blinding speed. Passing the last wooden doll, the boy stood up from his kneeling position. Each doll fell in one way or another; one fell from a large diagonal slash while another broke in multiple pieces. Meradee smirked a bit.

"Too iffy, Aslan. Work on it," he called from his position in the water. Aslan scratched his head, smiling sheepishly at his old friend.

"You're right, Meradee. Maybe I'm not cut out for this."

The boy mentally berated himself for his lack of tact. Even though he knew that Aslan easily downgraded himself on the slightest notion, he still teased him about the finer points of his already expert skills. Nobody else in his clan could match his speed or strength. Precision and consistency was another matter. The teenager could chop up an enemy in a million pieces while simply paper-cutting another enemy in the same battle.

"You know you're good enough, Aslan. Don't worry about it," he said offhandedly, waving a lazy hand in the air. The boy smiled at his friend's support. He tilted his head to the side in curiosity.

"Aren't you going to practice, Meradee?"

The boy sighed. He rose from the water, his purple hair clinging to his back. He held up his smooth, golden lyre. Meradee strummed a few keys, moving his slender fingers towards the dolls that Aslan didn't demolish. A bolt of lightning struck one. A gravity ball crumpled the next. Ice froze the last doll solid. Meradee smiled smugly at Aslan, "I think that'll do."

The tall boy shrugged, the smile still on his face, "Suit yourself. But still," his face turned serious, "we have to get ready. Especially when we find him."

Meradee's smile disappeared as he nodded his agreement. This wasn't a situation to joke about. They couldn't afford it, not if they wanted to keep everybody safe. "We can't let Darkness get to the other worlds. Let's hope he'll have what it takes."

…

"Nori?! Nori?! Where are you?!" Seiko slammed the door that led to his twin's room. He hurried to the kitchen, the living room, anywhere his sister might be. Not only did she fail to turn up, the wind started to blow even harder. Seiko found no other choice but to look outside. His eyes roamed the skies, accessing the dark orb floating above his town. Seiko couldn't believe it. Somehow it had gotten bigger the last few minutes.

The boy ran down the street, hoping to find his sister. He didn't know where she could have gone. After dinner, Seiko had gone outside to tend to his garden. The storm suddenly came out of nowhere, causing him to go into the shed to get a covering for his plants. When he came back, he saw the dark orb. Seiko could feel the dark energy emitting from it and knew right away that it wasn't an ordinary storm. That's when he went to search for his missing sister.

Dirt blew in his face, causing him to shut his eyes to protect from the scratchiness of it all. He covered his face with his arm, allowing him some time to open his eyes and see the world. A strange movement caught his eye. As he turned to look at it, he realized with a jolt that it was a moving shadow. However nothing was casting that shadow. From the ground it rose. Antennas twitched, yellow eyes searched. The black, ant-like creature seemed to get its bearings for a moment before jumping at Seiko. The boy quickly dodged the thing. He automatically stabbed the creature with his gardening spade. His eyes widened in surprise as his temporary weapon didn't damage the creature in one bit. The black ant landed on the ground. It turned around and attempted to attack Seiko one more time.

Seiko knew that he couldn't simply block with his spade, so he dodged the creature once again. He danced to the side to put space between him and the unknown. Once it landed on the ground again, it turned to Seiko once more. This time, more ant-like creatures rose from the ground. The boy switched his attention from creature to creature, trying to gauge his enemies' attacks. Two of them twitched a bit before jumping for another strike. Three others dashed forward, their claws poised for a slash. Overwhelmed by the numbers with a useless weapon to depend on, the boy instinctively covered his face with his arms crossed.

He waited for death, or something the like, to come. Instead of the blackness, a white light shone from his right hand. Seiko peeked from behind his arms to find the next surprise of the day. His gardening spade flashed a blindingly light. The ant-like creatures backed off, shielding their yellow eyes from the light. The light soon disappeared to reveal a strange weapon in Seiko's hand in place of his spade.

Shaped like a large key, its hand guard formed a curved, diamond-shaped, blue shield, protecting the wielder's hand from attacks. A small, sky circle accented with silver was inscribed on the shield. Darker blue lines formed a heart in the middle of the circle, slowing breathing with life. The white blade of the weapon split into two, finally connecting at the end to form a circle. Inside the circle was a strange shape floating up and down. It looked like a blue, heart-shaped flower. Similar, dark blue lines covered the weapon, creating a digital and technological feel to it.

Seiko actually stopped to admire the new weapon he now held in his hands. A word suddenly crossed his mind: _Keyblade_.

"Keyblade?" he wandered out loud. The Keyblade jerked forward, catching the boy off-guard. It slashed through one of the ant-like creatures. Seiko blinked rapidly in confusion as the dark creature disappeared. A pink object, the heart of the creature, floated upwards, disappearing soon after.

His Keyblade's lines glowed brightly. Even the circle on the built-in shield was glowing. Now that Seiko knew that he had some type of means to protect himself, he steeled himself for battle. Holding the weapon with one hand, he charged forward at the creatures. They seemed to have lost their initial fright as they charged in blindly. Seiko quickly cut his way through them. He held his Keyblade in a two-hand grip to make a downward stroke towards one creature. He quickly let go to beat another creature away. As quickly as they attacked, the dark creatures disappeared.

Seiko took that moment to catch his breath. His Keyblade continued to glow. He looked at it in awe. Then, a small column of light floated from the circle on the shield. Seiko held it faced-up. The column of light fused into a small shape. In flash of white, the column became a small version of the creature Seiko just defeated. Above it was the word _Registered_. From there, words appeared below the circle. The boy began to read the inscription:

_Shadow, the most basic and weakest of Heartless. It is able to sink into the ground and rise again to attack its enemies with its sharp claws. People with little darkness in their hearts often form these creatures._

"That's what that creature was?" Seiko thought to himself. He closed his eyes to focus his thoughts. So those things were Shadows…but then…what's a Heartless? He had never heard of the name before nor has he ever seen one. Well…now he did. The boy looked back at the words. His heart leaped a bit when he reread the last line. People could become those things? Did that mean that his sister had become that?! Impossible! He refused to believe it.

Now armed with a weapon that could hit those things, Seiko wasn't afraid to move forward. He ran down the streets, hoping to see for some sign. The path was oddly empty, Seiko's anxiety growing with step. Why wasn't there anyone around? He stopped dead in his tracks. His heart leaped into his throat. What if those creatures…killed them? As soon that thought formed, Seiko shook it away. He couldn't afford to think of that right now! He had to keep his head together, not break down in emotions.

His Keyblade wavered a bit. Seiko looked at it curiously. He raised it slightly. It moved on its own. The boy relaxed his grip, following its directions. It finally stopped. Seiko gulped when he noticed that it was pointing in the way he just came from. Were there…Shadows over there? If his Keyblade pointed that way…he had to trust it. Seiko sprinted back. The Keyblade wavered again. It jerked to the side, aimed towards his house. Seiko's heart leaped again.

"Nobody's in there…" he whispered but went inside anyways. He tried not to get his hopes up. The house was as empty as he had left it. Despite that Seiko searched the rooms again. He tried Nori's room first.

When he opened the door, he was astonished to find a black keyhole on her floor. When did that get there? He had never seen that before in his life, even though he visited his sister's room several times. Did his sister know about it? Even if she did, she wasn't here to tell him. So what was he supposed to do about it?

"Do you know?" he asked his Keyblade. The weapon seemed to droop, as if saddened by a fact that only it knew. Seiko started a bit, afraid that he may have offended his own weapon…somehow. "I-I-I'll figure something out!" as those words left his mouth, Seiko heard a strange crackling noise. Bits of ceiling fell on him, causing him to look up. This time, he really started in surprise.

A large, dark gray figure lifted the roof clear of the house. Muscular with a heart-shaped hole in its abdominal area, its head was covered in twisted, black tentacles. On its back were two small wings. Yellow eyes stared at Seiko as the figure tossed the roof aside.

"Wha…what the hell is that?!" Seiko yelled. It was a Heartless, he could guess as much. But rather than being something he could easily take out like those Shadows, this thing practically towered over his town's tallest building!

Seiko felt his Keyblade moving again. Without knowing the reasoning behind it, Seiko raised the weapon towards the Heartless. A ray of light shot from the tip of his Keyblade. It hit the dark being. A loud rumbling echoed through the area. Seiko's Keyblade began glowing again. He quickly looked at the small circle. A mini hologram of the creature appeared under the word _Registered_:

_Dark Setter. A stronger version of a newly-made Heartless, Darkside. Though its power increased, it still uses the same methods as its ancestor. It summons gray Shadows, slightly more powerful than the regular black Shadows. The best way to defeat it is to strike the head._

"This helps, a lot," Seiko muttered to himself. "But how am I supposed to get to the top?" The Dark Setter answered that for him. Dark energy wrapped around the Heartless's fist. It raised it upward before bringing it down towards Seiko. The boy reacted swiftly, rolling out of the way. The attack practically demolished his whole house, leaving only Nori's room in contact. Seiko regained his feet. A pool of darkness formed where the first lay deep in the ground. Gray Shadows suddenly appeared, twitching this way and that.

Seiko made quick work of them with his Keyblade. Once the small fry was cleared, the boy jumped on the Dark Setter's hand. He ran up, careful with his footing. Thankfully, the Heartless stayed like that for a while. Seiko reached its shoulder when it pulled its fist out of the ground. It kneeled down, bending back to face the sky. An orb of dark energy formed in the middle of its empty heart. The boy sensed danger to his right, bringing his Keyblade up. A dark missile slammed into Seiko's shield. His knees buckled from the blow.

"It's strong," he thought to himself. He saw more missiles aimed at him. Holding his Keyblade in a two-hand grip, Seiko batted away the attacks. They flew in the opposite direction before exploding. The boy turned his attention back to Dark Setter's head. Seiko leapt forward and slashed at the Heartless's eyes. He jumped away, landing lithely on the ground. As he looked up, the Heartless seemed to be writhing in pain. Its knees buckled and it fell forward. Realizing that he was in line of the fall, Seiko sprinted away. His realization came a bit too late.

The Dark Setter's hand caught Seiko, pinning him down. Somehow the boy's Keyblade was free of the trap. Seiko naturally struggled. He felt something touched his cheek. He realized in horror that tendrils of darkness from the Dark Setter were wrapping around him. He struggled even harder. It was no use. The darkness kept coming.

"No! I don't want to be a Heartless!" Seiko finally yelled. "I won't be you!" That was his last breath before he fell into darkness's grasp.

…

"Meradee, look," Aslan pointed in the sky. The boy followed his friend's gaze. His eyes widened in shock as a star blinked once, twice, and disappeared. "Another world's disappeared," the golden-haired boy said sadly.

Meradee nodded in agreement, "No time to regret that. We still have to find him. Remember what he said?"

Aslan returned the nod, "Find the special Keyblade bearer and help him find the Keyholes of the worlds." The shorter boy patted his friend shoulder before continuing to walk. He stopped short in front of the doors of a brightly lit shop. He gave Aslan a thumbs-up and opened the door to one of the shops of Traverse Town.

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**And that, folks, is the end of my first chapter. Again, please review. More reviews, more inspiration to continue this story. Thanks, guys, for pulling through.**

**Seiko: *waves***


	2. Chapter 2: Trust Me

**I'm back, seniors! Just like the cover of my new chapter, trust me. This isn't a novelization of Sora's adventure. Sora would appear soon enough or so. Seiko isn't to replace Sora. Like I said in the summary, he is actually _preparing _the worlds for Sora. So! Quick spoiler, if you guys want to know:**

Next Chapter: Wonder Mind, where Seiko, Meradee, and Aslan visit Wonderland and unknowingly meet one of the Princess of Heart.

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Trust Me

Seiko groaned. His head was pounding, like a horrible hangover. He sat up slowly so that he wouldn't agitate his mind further. He noticed that aside from the headache, he was sweating profusely.

"Oh, you're awake," said a soft voice. Seiko looked over while holding his head. A woman with brown curls smiled at him. Her blue eyes shone with kindness and understanding. The boy idly noticed that she was wearing a pink dress clinched in the middle with a blue belt.

"Where…am I?" he asked hesitantly.

"You're in Traverse Town," she said. "Those who lost their worlds to the Heartless usually end up here." The words jolted Seiko out of his headache. That's right! He fought against the Heartless, but his world still disappeared. Why was that? How was that? He beat the Dark Setter, didn't he? Shouldn't his world be safe?

"My…world disappeared?" he asked in a hollow voice. The woman nodded sadly.

"Yes. The Heartless probably found the heart of your world and consumed it. When they do, the world disappears. For the individuals, some are spared. Others, I'm not sure. Oh, excuse my rudeness. I'm Aerith," the woman held out a hand in greeting. Seiko stared at it for a moment. He reached out shyly and shook the hand, which had a surprisingly strong grip.

"Seiko…thank you for saving me." His mind began processing the piece of information Aerith gave him. The heart of his world…was it that keyhole in the ground of Nori's bedroom? Why would the heart of his world be there? Shouldn't it be somewhere more…public?

He suddenly remembered his sister. Nori! What happened to her? Did she survive the Heartless attack? She had to survive. She just had to. If Seiko was strong enough to, then his twin would also be able to escape. Maybe she was here right now!

"Need to find somebody!" Seiko threw the covers and leapt from the bed. Before Aerith could stop him, he was already at the door.

Her crisp voice stopped him, "Wait, Seiko!" The boy looked at her anxiously. Aerith's eyes were full of worry for the boy, "It's dangerous out there. The amount of Heartless have been increasing. They must be looking for this world's Keyhole."

Seiko gave her a reassuring smile. It usually took a while for him to trust others, but he could sense no malice from Aerith. After all, she did help him. He held out his hand. His Keyblade appeared in a flash of white. The lines weren't glowing as brightly when he was fighting the Heartless, but it was still a sight to behold.

"I'll fight them." He quickly left the room. As the door closed behind him, he heard running in the hallway. He turned to his right. A woman was running away from something. She tripped, falling to the ground. Seiko stood frozen as darkness writhe around her chest. A pink heart rose from her chest, floating upwards. Darkness wrapped the heart. A blue creature with a silver helmet and a red-and-black emblem on its chest burst from the squirming darkness. The woman soon faded away afterward, leaving nothing behind. Seiko recognized immediately that a Heartless had formed in front of him. It danced for a bit before seeming to notice him.

A regretful and guilty feeling chilled his spine as he thought that he may have been able to prevent that Heartless from forming. The Heartless leaped for him. His Keyblade was already out, saving him the time to summon it. He spun in a circle to gain momentum. Seiko slammed the Keyblade into the Heartless, pinning it to the wall. The Heartless squirmed before dissipating in darkness. The woman's heart floated away. As Seiko watched it, he wondered if they returned to their owners and if they did, are the owners reborn as their original self before they became a Heartless or as a newborn?

A low beeping turned Seiko's attention to his Keyblade. It was glowing again, the circle shining brightly. The Heartless from before appeared, the now-familiar _Registered _above it.

_Soldier, another common Heartless. A bit more powerful than Shadows, they usually appear in large numbers yet refuse to work together. Be careful of their red claws. They often leave themselves open for attacks._

"Soldiers, huh? I wonder how many types of Heartless there are…" Seiko mused. He walked down the hall, eager to leave, eager to avoid seeing Heartless. However, from what he could observe, he would meet up with more of them soon.

…

"What do you mean, you haven't seen somebody with it?!" Meradee yelled at the blonde man handling the counter of the shop. Aslan held up two placating hands, unsuccessfully trying to calm down his friend.

"I meant what I said," the man's toothpick moved up and down. "I haven't seen anybody with this 'key' you're talking about!"

"How can you not?! Don't you know that every world is depending on that person?!" Meradee slammed his hands on the counter. His eye twitched angrily at the man in front of him. Aslan finally placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. However he knew he would have to tread carefully. Last time he tried to calm Meradee, it resulted in a red face-print on his face. The taller boy pulled the shorter back.

"I'm sorry about my friend. We're just anxious about finding that key before the Heartless reach it," Aslan explained in an apologetic manner. The shop owner scratched his head.

"Well, I already told you, I haven't seen him, her, whatever."

Aslan felt Meradee move. He squeezed the other boy's shoulder, signaling him to keep his anger in check. "Thanks for your help, though. Please, if you see him, tell us. Let's go," he whispered in a harsh tone to his friend. Aslan dragged his friend away from the shop. The environment may have been affecting him because Meradee started to calm down once they were outside.

"How are we going to find him?" he asked Aslan, the frustration obvious in his voice. Aslan patted Meradee's head. The touch calmed Meradee down.

"Don't worry. We'll find him. Let's try looking in the districts," he led the shorter boy towards a pair of wooden doors. As the doors closed behind them, another set of doors opened. Seiko examined the area as he stepped forward. The place looked okay. However he got ready to summon his Keyblade when needed. While he was walking through the Second District, he found that he could summon the Keyblade at will. He also observed that he was able to gain information on the Heartless he found through this Keyblade either by hitting them or shooting that beam of light at them. Seiko could also look through at the past Heartless he fought. His heart had lurched when he saw the small hologram of the Dark Setter. That being took away his life, his home, his sister. He wasn't even sure he truly took it out in the first place.

Distracted as he was, Seiko accidentally bumped into a pair of doors. He rubbed his nose ruefully. "Ow…" he muttered to himself as he opened the doors. Seiko realized immediately that he had entered a shop.

"Wel-oh, it's just another kid," the man at the counter seemed disappointed. Seiko tilted his head at him. The man glared at him. "If you're not going to buy anything, kid, beat it!"

"Buy? What do you have?" he asked curiously.

"Do you have any munny?"

"Munny?" Seiko repeated. He knew he had _money_. But what was this munny the man was talking about? He had a flash of inspiration. He reached into his pocket and pulled out multi-colored orb of yellow, orange, and blue. "Is this munny?" Unsure of what it was after it dropped from the Heartless he defeated, Seiko decided to collect them. Thinking back, he remembered that he was about to opt to leave them on the ground. He was glad that he decided to pick them up just in case albeit them being a bit suspicious. Why would the Heartless be carrying them?

The man grinned in spite of himself, "Well…what do you know? You actually do have some munny. Take a look around. Pick out what you want." Seiko nodded his understanding. He looked at the glass counter, recognizing some of the wares. The boy decided to buy a few potions. He packed the potions away into a black, one-strapped bag he had found during his District Exploration.

"Sure you don't want a weapon?" the man asked as Seiko handed over the munny. The boy shook his head.

"I already have one, Mr.…"

"Just call me Cid," the man introduced. "Forget the 'mister' part."

"Seiko," the boy responded, just to be polite.

Cid peered at Seiko closely. The boy stepped back a pace to put some distance. "So? What's your weapon?"

"Uh…a Keyblade," to prove his statement, Seiko summoned his Keyblade. Cid examined the weapon, emitting a low whistle. Despite himself, Seiko had to smile.

"So that's a Keyblade…maybe that's what those two were looking for," Cid muttered to himself. However, Seiko heard every word.

"Who?"

The shop owner waved an airy hand, "These two boys. They were looking for a 'key'. This was probably what they were talking about."

"Ah…" Seiko debated whether or not he should look for them. Who knows? Maybe they knew something about the Heartless. Maybe…they knew how to bring his world back and where his sister went!

"If you're wondering where they went, I'll bet they started searching in the districts," Cid jerked a thumb towards the doors. Seiko nodded. He ran towards the doors, pushing them out.

"Thanks, Cid!" he stopped outside the shop. He looked left and right for another way. Seiko walked around the shop. He saw the door where he entered from. There was another door. Seiko pushed them open. From a sign, he could see that he was in the Third District. Besides the golden fountain at one corner, there wasn't really much. Seiko turned to return to the First District. His eye, however, caught another doorway. He wondered briefly where it went. So far, he had traveled from the hotel to the Second District, to the First District, and to the Third District. The three districts were probably connected at some point. So this door probably led to the Second District. Seiko pushed open the door, entering a gray alleyway.

He looked around, walking forward as he did so. Once he reached the end, Seiko recognized the Second District all too clearly. For some strange reason, no Heartless swarmed towards him, even when he walked out to the open. Seiko headed towards the water fountain. It wasn't working, but that didn't stop Seiko from admiring the artwork of it. He felt drawn to it without exactly knowing why. Shrugging off the feeling, he turned around to walk back to the hotel where he first resided.

The ground suddenly shook violently, causing Seiko to fall to his knees. "What?!" once Seiko uttered the word, a large orange-armored Heartless appeared. Its limbs floated freely, included its head. They flipped around, attempting to distract Seiko as he stood up. Parts of it were a lighter shade of orange. It was reinforced with claws and feet of black. The Heartless proudly showed off its emblem on its chest.

The boy instinctively summoned his Keyblade. He pointed it at the Heartless, shooting the light. Once it made contact, the Keyblade computed the data.

_Flex Armor, a strong Heartless replica of the Heartless Guard Armor. Its limbs are able to move individually, attacking relentlessly. They are able to rearrange themselves to form something more powerful. Attacking each limb separately would reveal some prizes. The main source of power is its torso. Defeat it with powerful attacks towards the body._

"Flex Armor, huh?" Seiko steeled himself. He charged forward, Keyblade ready. The Heartless moved its feet towards the boy. He quickly dodged their stomps, jumping to avoid the shockwaves. He aimed a side cut to the torso. However it left him open to the Flex Armor's claws. Seiko grunted in pain as it cut him. The Heartless added salt to the wound as it began spinning its torso. It knocked Seiko away, leaving the Keyblade wielder unable to recover properly. He fell to the ground, gasping as the breath was knocked out of him.

The boy pushed himself up with his arms. He quickly rolled out of the way as the boots came stomping again. He blocked the claws from hitting him. Seiko felt a sudden stab of fear at the thought of being defeated by this creature. The thought distracted him, and the Flex Armor knocked him back with his claws. When Seiko looked up from the ground again, the boots were ready to stomp on him and end his life.

"No…" he said weakly. His strength was draining from the multiple hits. No way was he going to survive this, even if he had the Keyblade. Strangely, he felt angry at himself for accepting death so easily. He wanted to close his eyes and ignore darkness. But his eyes remained stubbornly open.

The feet came crashing down. A sudden flash of yellow knocked them back. Seiko blinked in surprise as a tall, boy stood in front of him. The stranger's hair, slicked back and smooth, matched the lights of the Third District golden fountain and had a few colorful beads twined in them. A long, red clawed tattoo scarred from his left, red eye to his chin, and he bared slightly pointy teeth at the Heartless. His clothes were rather simple. He wore a tight-fitting, brown, sleeveless shirt, showing off his toned body. The boy had a loose, yellow clothed low-cut vest, belted with a golden sash, and furry arm warmers. He wore brown pants with a fur-like material, and his boots contained fearsome claws at the toes. The boy ran his cestus claws together, sharpening them further.

His mind still registering the fact that he was still alive, Seiko was suddenly covered in green dust. The strange particles healed his injuries and brought his strength back. The boy stood up, marveling at his strength.

"Thank the mighty Siraphy that we found you in time!" shouted an unfamiliar voice. Seiko winced at the volume. He turned to find a purple-haired boy his age. His slightly long, layered purple hair reached below his shoulders, some falling over his shoulders. His green eyes searched Seiko anxiously, as if to make sure that the boy was okay. This new stranger had on sea green-to-white shirt with slightly wide and wavy sleeves. He wore shorts that reflected the ocean and reached his knees. Running barefooted, he also had on a clear and sparkling belt that extended out to two light green skirt tails on the sides. The boy also had on golden rings around his neck, wrists, and ankles. He hugged a golden lyre close to him. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah…" Seiko managed to force out. His life had flashed before his eyes, and he was a bit dizzy from watching. The golden-haired boy nodded to Seiko, a smile on his face.

"Good! Go take out the Heartless! We'll back you up! Right, Meradee?" he laughed. The purple hair, Meradee, stomped his foot, looking for all the world to see like a pouty girl.

"So long as he's able to handle himself!" Meradee quickly strummed a few strings on his lyre. Ice balls floated around him before flying across towards the Flex Armor's claws. They seemed to be quite effective as the Heartless reared back in pain. The golden hair aimed for the Flex Armor's feet again.

Gripping his Keyblade tightly, Seiko's confidence rose with the two strangers' appearance. Now he was sure that he had a chance to defeat this Heartless. He charged forward, holding his Keyblade in a two-handed grip. He saw that Meradee had destroyed one of the claws and was working on the next. The other boy was still grappling with the feet. He didn't notice the torso coming up from behind, ready to attack him. Seiko remembered idly the information his Keyblade gave him, that Flex Armor was capable of splitting up to attack.

Not this time. The boy jumped up and blocked the Flex Armor from getting any closer to the golden-haired. He pushed the Heartless back with a loud grunt. Feeling two presences on either side of him, Seiko looked. It was Meradee and the golden hair. He figured that they probably finished off the parts. That was not the case as the limbs floated back towards the torso.

"There's something fishy going on here," Meradee hit his back with his lyre.

The golden hair boy nodded. "With the strength we were hitting the limbs, they should be gone by now. What's going-." The Flex Armor moved before he could finish his sentence. The arms slammed onto the ground. The legs replaced the arms' position. The torso itself flipped around, revealing another Heartless emblem on the back. The head's faceguard opened revealing a black face with yellow eyes.

Without thinking, Seiko aimed his Keyblade at the Heartless. It was an automatic reflex now whenever he saw a new enemy. The beam hit the new Heartless at its emblem.

_Conflicting Armor, the altered version of Flex Armor. Its limbs still have the power to attack individually. Now, aside from the powerful spin attack, its torso can transform into a cannon to blast away its enemies. However the same strategy of defeating the Flex Armor can be used to eradicate Conflicting Armor._

"What did you just do?" the golden hair boy asked curiously.

"Don't ask questions now! We have to defeat that thing!" Meradee ordered. He turned to look at Seiko in the eye. "Like Aslan said, we'll back you up, but you'll have to land the finishing blow." Seiko nodded to him, noting the other boy's name. For some reason, in his heart, he knew that would be the case. He had to use his Keyblade to free the heart the Flex Armor, or Conflicting Armor, had.

"…" Seiko maintained his silence as he suddenly charged forward again, switching to a one-hand grip. Aslan was right behind him. Meradee stayed back, firing Blizzard at the Heartless's claws. The claw feet stomped over to the purple-haired boy, attempting to spin around rapidly to hit him. Meradee managed to dodge that attack and switched to a Thunder spell instead. Aslan kept the boot arms busy. He grunted when he took a bit of damage from the boot's attacks. Seiko rolled to one side before jumping forward. He slashed at one of the boots. Weakened from Aslan's own attacks, the boot fell to the ground, unmoving. Aslan finished off the second boot, leaving only the claws and torso left.

Seiko looked up to see that Meradee had finished off one of the claws and moved onto the next one. He was about to run to help the other boy when he felt something strike against his back. He grunted in pain as he fell to the ground. Twisting his head to look over his shoulder, he saw that the Conflicting Armor was in the shape of a cannon and shooting energy blasts at them. The Heartless prepared for another attack when Aslan slashed at it.

"Go help Meradee!" he told Seiko. He leapt to one side, drawing the Conflicting Armor's attention away from Seiko. The boy scrambled to his feet and ran towards the purple hair. Meradee barely dodged the claw's attack. Sweat dripped from his brow as he tried to keep his focus. He almost let out a sigh of relief when Seiko came crashing in. The Keyblade Wielder swung his weapon into the claw. The limb collapsed to the ground, signaling its defeat. Meradee nodded his thanks. He strummed a few strings. The green dust from before that healed Seiko was now healing the purple-haired boy. The Cure spell done and he looked good as new. Seeing as only the torso was left, Seiko hitched his Keyblade on his shoulder and ran towards the Heartless. The Conflicting Armor attempted to fire another energy blast at them. Meradee quickly countered it with a Thunder and Blizzard Spell. Aslan let his arms fall in exhaustion, thankful that his friends had come to help him. He gave the other two boys a thumbs-up.

Seiko then knew it was up to him, and he ran forward to leap for the final blow. As the Keyblade wielder jumped up, Aslan pushed up Seiko's shoes, boosting him up even farther. Seiko gripped his weapon tightly, feeling the blade bit into the Heartless's armor. The jump carried him upwards and allowed him to cut all the way to the helmet. The Conflicting Armor stopped moving once Seiko finished his attack. The boy landed a few feet away from the Heartless. He watched in astonishment as it began to shake violently. So violently that the helmet fell from its place on top of the torso. Once it fell, the whole thing went down. The limbs were scattered, as if smashed by a careless giant hand. The familiar pink heart appeared, floating upwards and disappearing. The three boys had stared at the sight in awe. Then they looked at each other. A long silence stretched before Aslan broke it:

"We finally found you!" the golden hair boy laughed. He cupped Seiko's hands in his owns, smiling happily. The Keyblade Wielder looked at him confused.

"Found me?"

"That's right," said a soft voice. The three boys turned to see Aerith standing off to the side. She smiled at them, Seiko mainly, "They were looking for the wielder of the Key."

"You mean…the Keyblade?" Seiko looked at the two boys. They both nodded. "Why?"

"Our mission was to find the wielder of the Key and help them," Meradee said. "To prevent the worlds from falling into Darkness."

"Worlds…"Seiko echoed. He thought for a moment, 'I survived. Maybe…Nori survived too!' "Do you know if Nori would be in any of these worlds?"

Meradee nodded, "It's quite possible."

"You should go, Seiko," Aerith said. "It'll be easier to find who you're looking for." Maybe Aerith was right. But still…Seiko didn't feel really comfortable just going with people he just met. Granted they did help him out in a pinch. If there were more Heartless like that Flex Armor…Seiko would be turned into one in a heartbeat. Even so…the two fighters were from different backgrounds. Seiko could already tell from their clothes. In his town, they didn't have clothes like that.

Seiko himself was wearing his light blue jacket and black-and-white striped, long-sleeved shirt that had patterns of gray thorns. His gray and black pants consisted of two layers. Underneath were his real, black pants. The second layer was a gray covering that reached higher than his knees. The layer was actually split into two, attached by two strong, black strings on either side, leaving an opening for Seiko's knees. The second layer was attached through his gray belt. Whereas Meradee's hair seemed like he brushed it at least one a day, Seiko's black hair seemed like it hasn't been brushed for days; it kept sticking up at places, no matter how hard he tried to brush it. He wasn't too sure that he wanted to hang out with somebody with such a bold tattoo as Aslan's. Even though he seemed nice, Seiko wasn't sure about the boy's true personality.

Despite this reasoning, Seiko thought again about Aerith's words. It would be easier to travel with these two to other worlds so that he'd be able to find Nori. He'd also be able to help these two with whatever they needed. If he didn't travel with them, there was a greater chance of him becoming a Heartless if there were Heartless even stronger than that Flex Armor. Then there's the matter of transportation. He didn't have a vessel while they must have had some type of vessel. Seiko would stake his life on it.

Besides those reasons, there was something else Seiko wanted to see for himself. He wanted to see the other worlds. This was an adventure that only a kid in his town would have been able to dream up. Now that it was real, Seiko could actually explore the different places that existed in this world. He'll be able to gather data and store it for years to come. With his Keyblade, the data-collecting would be quite easy.

With these thoughts in his mind, finding Nori and data-collecting the most prominent, Seiko nodded his agreement.

The golden hair boy patted Seiko's shoulder, "That's great. I'm Aslan." He held out his hand facedown.

"My name's Meradee," the purple hair formally introduced himself. He placed his own hand on top of his friend's.

"Seiko," the boy finally said. He hesitated a bit before adding his hand to the pile. Once his hand touched theirs, he shivered. For some reason, he didn't like their touch. It seemed a bit too...he couldn't find the words to describe it. Blinding, he might say, but he still wasn't sure. He hid his discomfort. Despite the strange feeling, Seiko knew that he could count on them. These were the first friends he had in a while, and he didn't want to lose them.

"All for one, and one for all," Aslan grinned.

Seiko allowed himself a small smile as Meradee facepalmed, "We're not musketeers…"

* * *

**Yay! Now, let's have the cast introduce themselves!**

**Seiko: Seiko.**

**Aslan: I'm Aslan!**

**Meradee: My name's Meradee. Nice to meet you.**

**So! Quick question! Meradee! Who exactly is this...'Siraphy' you were swearing to?**

**Meradee: Siraphy is the goddess that rules my people's religion. She is a great and benevolent goddess who blessed us with our many great traits shared only in my people's bloodline.**

**I see...**

**Aslan: Going to ask me something, Blade?**

**Ah, as of now, there's nothing to ask you.**

**Aslan: D:**

**Next time. I promise. Well! Let's conclude today's stuff! See you next time!**

**Seiko: *pushes black screen across to cover everyone up***

**Ack! There's no need for that, Seiko!**

**Seiko: *covers everyone but himself* *waves bye to the audience with a small smile***


	3. Chapter 3: Wonder Mind

**Hi, guys...Blade here...I just started school again...so I'm afraid I won't be around as often. So...yeah...hopefully, I would still be able to type up my stories. Not really the best idea to spend time here when you're buried underneath a whole mass of school work from stupid honors class. But hey, I was never smart in the first place, so I'm probably going to start cursing my life again.**

**Anyways, thank you TorNathan and Lucenthia for reviewing again and giving me more advice! I really appreciate it and hopefully I followed it right...Sorry if I didn't, but I'm trying! :)**

**Okay, well, here is finally the part where Seiko's adventure slightly, more or less, diverts from Sora's adventure. How, you ask, when he's still visiting Wonderland, _like Sora,_ after Traverse Town, _like Sora_? Well...you just gotta read. :D Enjoy!  
**

* * *

Wonder Mind

"Wow…" Seiko stared in awe at the sight before him. He stepped forward hesitantly, as if frightened that the whole control deck would blow up in his face. There were so many buttons, so many new things to examine that Seiko didn't know what to look at first. He noticed that there were three chairs, one ahead of the others to reach the steering stick. The large window shield before them clearly showed the brick wall that the ship was facing. It was extremely wide, extending to both sides of the ship to where the other two seats were. The ceiling of the ship hung high enough for Aslan to stand erect. And that guy was pretty tall compared to Seiko, maybe close to six feet tall. Seiko was about five feet five. Meradee stood five four.

"Welcome to the cockpit of our Gummi Ship!" Aslan grinned. He extended a hand towards the controls.

"Gummi?" Seiko asked. Before Aslan could reply, Meradee cut in:

"Yes, Gummi. It's the building block that makes up this ship. Now I have a question for you," the purple-haired boy crossed his arms. "What's up with your Keyblade? I didn't know that the Keyblade could do that, scanning the Heartless." Seiko looked at him in surprise. Did he know something about the Keyblade? Was that why he was asking? Because Seiko's Keyblade was out of the ordinary? The boy finally shrugged in answer.

"I don't know…"

Meradee stared at him, as if trying to figure him out. Then he waved an airy hand to close the discussion. "That doesn't really matter. So long as we got the Keyblade, we should be good." He clapped his hands together, "I think we wasted enough time chattering. Let's get going, Aslan!" Meradee moved towards the far left chair to sit down. He gestured to the other chair to the right for Seiko to sit. Obviously, they weren't going to let the new kid drive the Gummi Ship.

Aslan went and sat down in the driver's seat. He sighed, slapping the arms of his seat for a bit before grabbing the steering stick. "Fasten your seatbelts guys," Aslan grinned. He pressed a few buttons. Seiko could hear the ship humming, starting. The Gummi Ship steadily rose from the ground. It flew upwards a bit further before it blasted off. The force of the ship stuck Seiko to his chair tightly. Not like he could have moved; he was thankful for his seatbelt holding onto him to prevent him from rolling off.

After some seconds, Seiko could feel the seatbelt slacking. He looked to the side to find an astonishing sight. Millions of stars blinked a shining greeting at him. Seiko couldn't stop staring at the stars. They used to be so far off; now he felt like all he had to do was reach out and he would be able to feel the heat from the celestial objects.

"Stop gaping, Seiko. They're going to become a bore soon," Meradee leaned against his hand as he stared outside the window. Seiko closed his mouth. He looked at the boy curiously. He didn't know why that boy was so hostile. Although he proved to have a soft side, there was no sign of that personality right now.

Aslan barked out a laugh. "You were surrounded by so much shiny stuff as a kid, I wouldn't blame you for not being impressed by the stars. It's different for me and Seiko," he smiled at the stars in front of him. "They're beautiful…" he breathed.

Unknowingly Seiko nodded his head in agreement. He felt a sudden stab of guilt at being grateful for being able to see the stars. In a sense, he was being grateful that his town disappeared, that his sister was lost, that the Keyblade chose him. He shook his head to break away from the thoughts.

"Here we are," Aslan stopped the ship. Both Seiko and Meradee leaned forward to get a closer look. A pink-checkered world with a castle on top and a thatched cottage on the bottom floated in mid-space. "It's called Wonderland. Ready to disembark, guys?"

Meradee looked over at Seiko, "One more thing. Try to interact with the inhabitants as little as possible. We want to keep the Heartless and all that matter a secret. It's to protect the 'world order' and avoid causing confusion for the residents. Understand, Seiko?"

The boy gripped his hands slowly before releasing. This was his chance to find his sister and explore these new worlds. He nodded, "I understand. Let's go."

…

Seiko looked around him in awe at the strange place. Surrounded by red bricks, a curtained walkway led to another destination. The floor contained a red checkered pattern.

"Looks interesting enough," Aslan smiled.

"Apparently this place was made by a girl's imagination," Meradee looked at the red curtains. He made his way over to examine the fabric closer. His statement caught Seiko's attention.

"Wonderland's made by a girl?"

"Yup," Meradee rubbed the curtain.

"So this is all her imagination?"

"Think so," Meradee stretched the curtain.

"Does that mean that we're in her head? Or a real actual world that somehow was born through the magnificent and supernatural effects of a girl's mind?" Seiko blinked.

Both Meradee and Aslan stared at the boy. This was the first time both of them heard such a long statement from him. They figured that he was one of those shy ones that refrain from talking too much. Now they know that that wasn't the case. Seiko was as curious as a scientist that just discovered a deserted island filled with unknown creatures, plants, and mysteries (*gloom* couldn't think of anything else...). And there was that point that he just made…

Aslan shrugged ruefully, "I don't know. Maybe we should start exploring."

"That's a start," Meradee let go of the curtain. Aslan raised an eyebrow when he noticed that the curtain Meradee just released was shorter than its counterpart. He didn't have time to dwell on it because Seiko was already moving forward. Seiko's eyes roamed around the Rabbit Hole, taking in everything that he saw. Since it was his second time in a new world, he was excited to see what new things awaited him. One new thing came to him right now. A small door, up to his knees, lay daintily waiting. Seiko went to his knees to open up the door. It revealed another door, which Seiko proceeded to open as well.

"Seiko! Wait up!" Aslan ran up to the boy with Meradee behind him. Seiko opened the second door to the third door. "Haha! That's pretty cool!" Aslan watched Seiko reach for the third knob. Meradee just sighed and shook his head.

"Guys, we have to be careful. Who knows what's going to hap-."

"Got it," Seiko muttered, revealing a dark room. Again, without waiting for his new friends, the boy crawled through the opening. "Watch your head, Aslan." The two heard him call. Aslan grinned at Meradee.

"At least he still remembers us," the golden-haired boy started to crawl after the raven head. Meradee gave another frustrated sigh. He didn't really have a choice when two of his friends already crawled through the suspicious doors. It was a bit easier for him to crawl through because of his short stature.

When he reached the end, he saw how Seiko and Aslan were standing erect in a pink bedroom with a red bricked chimney. They weren't the only people in this place. A blonde girl in a blue balloon-like dress and white apron was there too. The girl started when she noticed Meradee on his knees.

"Another boy?" she asked in a British accent.

Aslan nodded, "Alice, this is Meradee. Meradee, Alice."

"Charmed," the purple hair muttered. Already, both Seiko and Aslan forgot the "no interaction" rule.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Meradee," Alice did a little courtesy his way. Meradee inclined his head before turning to Seiko.

"Why are you stopping now? You just love to go ahead of your friends, don't you?"

"I was just curious, that's all," Seiko muttered. "Besides, we're figuring out how to get through there." He pointed to a small wooden door. The most surprising thing about it was its golden knob. Not because it was golden, but the fact that it was snoring.

"The doorknob wouldn't wake up," Alice informed him. She looked at it again, "Curiouser and curiouser…" Seiko nodded in agreement to her statement. Meradee exchanged a look with Aslan.

"We just found Seiko's life-mate…" Meradee rubbed his head. They all jumped when a sleepy voice called out.

"Can you keep it down, please? I'm trying to get some sleep," the Doorknob yawned. The four kids all crowded around it to stare in amazement.

"How do we get through?" Seiko immediately asked. Unfortunately for him, the Doorknob had fallen asleep again. Alice kneeled down and twisted the knob, which Seiko guess would be its nose.

"OOOOWWWWUUUHHH!" the Doorknob woke up with a cry of pain.

"Pardon me!" Alice jerked backwards. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

The Doorknob twitched his "nose". "You gave me quite a turn there. And, well, one good turn deserves another. What can I do for you?"

"How do we get through?" Seiko repeated.

"Try the bottle on the table," the Doorknob "pointed" with his nose. Four heads turned to see a table rise from the ground. With a puff of smoke, two bottles appeared. Aslan went over and picked up one of the bottles. A tag with the words "Drink Me" fluttered from a red thread. The other bottle had the same thing, only with a blue thread.

"Which one should we drink?" the boy asked his friends uncertainly. He sniffed at the contents before holding it out. Seiko quickly snatched it up. He drank it before his friends could protest. Meradee quickly yanked the bottle out of his hands.

"Are you an idiot or-?" Meradee quickly blinked in surprise as Seiko began shrinking. The raven head finally stopped shrinking when he was about the size of the Doorknob. The boy waved to his giant friends, signaling that it was okay to drink the weird liquid. "You have got to be kid-." Before Meradee could finish, Aslan had snatched away the bottle. He drank it and handed it to Alice, who also drank it. Meradee watched in disbelief as his friends all shrunk one-by-one. Soon he was towering over them, and somehow the bottle found its way in his hand again.

"Hurry up, Meradee! You're missing the fun!" laughed Aslan's squeaky voice. The purple hair glared at the little people before him. He resisted the urge to just crush them underfoot. He took one look at the bottle before closing his eyes and drinking it. He quickly placed it back on the table before feeling his body shrink.

Seeing that Meradee finished shrinking, Seiko looked back at the Doorknob. It had fallen asleep again, and he doubted that they could wake him up again. But that didn't matter. Seiko pointed to the side where there was a crack between the bed and the wall. When he was still big, he had noted down the nooks and crannies of the room. "Let's go this way," he said. Again, without waiting for his friends, he started walking. That put him in a slightly bad position when he heard Alice screaming. He turned around quickly to see a whole group of Shadows, Soldiers, and unnamed Heartless attacking. Without hesitation, he summoned his Keyblade and sprinted forward to help his friends, thoughts of regret filling his mind.

Seiko skidded to a stop when some of the Heartless barred his way. He gritted his teeth in anger at the Heartless. "Stay out of my way!" he slashed at one floating, red Heartless. Despite the situation, he could not resist looking at the data collected from the creature: _Red Nocturne_. The boy slashed at the Shadows and Red Nocturne in his way, quickly clearing up the small group. He was about to rush to his friends' aid when he heard a scream.

"Get away from me!" Alice screamed. Her scream mixed pain and fear in one as a flying Heartless pulled on her hair.

"Alice!" Aslan attempted to run towards her, but a large bellied Heartless blocked his way. He slashed at its stomach, only to be bounced back. Meradee strummed his lyre to blast ice at it. The big Heartless began waving its arms. It slapped its belly and rushed forward with its stomach trusted out. It slammed into Meradee, the boy knocked off his feet and fallen to the ground with a grunt. Aslan took this chance to slash at the back of the Heartless. He bit his lip against the pain as the Heartless swung its arms at him. He could feel his blood boiling when he thought of how the Heartless had attacked his old friend. Roaring in anger, Aslan stopped the Heartless's second attack and ran his claws across the Heartless's face.

"Don't lose your temper, Aslan!" Meradee coughed as he struggled to stand up.

Seiko took a quick survey of the battle. He figured that Meradee and Aslan would be able to handle the Heartless themselves. After all, Alice didn't have any means of defense at all. Still, he hated how he had to leave his friends to deal with that big Heartless alone. Making up his mind, Seiko ran towards Alice. His attack, fueled by his anger, beat back the flying Heartless with goggles in one swoop. It disappeared with the heart floating away. Alice rubbed her head as she smiled at Seiko gratefully:

"Thank you, Seiko!" Her smile turned into a look of fear. She pointed behind her friend, "Behind you!" His heart skipped a beat from Alice's fear, almost freezing him. Thankfully, Seiko managed to turn around with his Keyblade held up. He successfully blocked the Air Soldier (which his Keyblade had just registered) and shoved it away. He leapt after it, slashing it before it could right itself again. The Heartless released the captured heart. Seiko scanned the area around him. Seeing as there was no more danger for the girl, the boy sprinted to his friends.

"Hurry and hit its back, Seiko!" Meradee shouted. Seiko nodded his understanding. He had noticed how normal attacks rebounded from the big Heartless's stomach. Magic was able to hit it from all sides. Right now, Meradee and Aslan were attacking the front of the Heartless, distracting it from the Keyblade wielder. Seiko switched his grip to a two-handed one and struck the middle of the Heartless's back. Already weak from the previous hits, the Heartless finally disappeared. The three boys breathed hard from the exertion of the fight. Sweat covered all of their brows. Seiko barely noticed that the Large Body Heartless was registered in his Keyblade, yet his heart raced partially in excitement at all the data he got from the battle. Alice ran towards them, concern written all over her face.

"Oh my gosh! Are you all right?" she placed her hands on Seiko's cheeks, checking for any injuries. To Meradee and Aslan's surprise, Seiko flinched noticeably. His widened eyes stared at Alice fearfully, as if she was about to hurt him. The girl must have noticed his expression as well because she quickly withdrew her hands from his face, "You're looking a bit pale, Seiko!"

The boy's face did pale a bit. But slowly, it regained its color. Seiko waved it away. "I'm fine…don't worry about it…" His friends still looked worried, so Seiko tried to change the subject away from him. He never liked being in the center of attention in the first place. "Let's go explore some more." Without waiting for an answer, he started walking towards the crack in the wall again. Alice followed behind, her worried look lessening slightly. Meradee quickly casted a Cure on all of them before walking, Aslan on his heels.

They continued to stumble through the dark tunnel, hands on the wall to prevent them from falling over. The sound of their shoes walking echoed through the dark. For some reason, the darkness seemed to discourage them from talking to each other, yet Seiko could hear somebody muttering behind him. He searched his memory before connecting the voice to Aslan. He heard the boy berating himself, how he wasn't good enough to stop that Heartless alone and protect Alice. Knowing that there wasn't much he could do, Seiko blinked. The darkness didn't seem to let up. After a few more steps, he finally saw light at the end. He resisted the urge to run forward, knowing that he couldn't leave his friends behind.

"There's light ahead," he said, still continuing to walk. Seiko sensed his friends nodding in response.

The four kids finally reached the end of the tunnel. Used to the darkness of the tunnel, they blinked against the light. Somehow, they had ended up from a bedroom to a forest with tall grass. A few colorful flowers remained close. A large tree stood in the middle of the place. There was a pond to the side with lily pads and a large boulder.

"Wow…what a pleasant place!" Alice clapped her hands together.

"I'll say," Aslan smiled, his dark cloud gone. "It reminds me a bit about home."

"Well, it's quite obvious then that this isn't your home then!" laughed a crazed voice.

"Who's-?"

"You mean, what's that!" the voice interrupted Meradee. Seiko looked up from a patch of grass he was examining. He pointed to the boulder near the pond. His friends looked in that direction and started to see a white grin hovering in the air. "And the mome raths outgrabe." Suddenly, blue and purple stripes began appearing. They formed a tail, legs, body, and head. Yellow eyes, purple nose, and black whiskers were added to the grin. "Why, hello, mad people!"

"Mad? We're not mad!" Meradee looked insulted. He crossed his arms, glaring at the strange cat.

The cat grinned, "Oh, you can't help that. Everyone's mad…see that kid over there?" The cat pointed over to Seiko. Meradee, Aslan, and Alice looked over at him. Seiko felt his face flush at the sudden attention. "See?" the cat laughed. "He's mad!"

"No, he isn't! He's just embarrassed!" Meradee retorted.

"He is?"

"Yes!"

"Yes what?"

"He's embarrassed!"

"Who's embarrassed?"

"Seiko!"

"What Seiko?"

"Se-Oh!" Meradee stomped his foot in frustration before turning away. Aslan had to hide a smile at his friend's predicament. There was something strangely comical about it. "I can't deal with this…this thing!" Meradee groaned.

"Can you stand on your head?" the Cheshire Cat had somehow taken off his head and was literally standing on it. When the three kids looked over to him, they were surprised to see that Seiko was also on the boulder. Instead of standing on his head, Seiko leaned forward, his body straight up in the air. His legs dangled in front of him as he stared at the cat with his head resting on his arms, looking like a weird, human dolphin.

"Seiko! Get down! You might fall down!" Aslan immediately yelled when he saw his friend up on the boulder. What in the freaking jungle was that kid doing?! How did he get up there so fast? His heart raced at the fear of the possibly of Seiko falling down. In battle, Aslan wouldn't worry at all. But since they weren't fighting anything at all, his anxiety increased more than was probably necessary.

"Oh? But it's so much better to get up! You won't fall at all!" the Cheshire Cat laughed. Seiko kept his mouth shut, staring intently at the strange cat with no expression on his face. Meradee could feel his anger boiling over again at his friend. He wasn't even sure if Seiko was qualified enough to be called his friend right now. The guy was clearly fooling around when there were worlds in danger! Couldn't he take it a bit more seriously? A hand touched his shoulder. He looked to see Alice with a small smile on her face.

"Let's just try to ask him for directions. Surely, he knows the way."

"There are no _the _way, only _the_ _Queen's_ way!" the Cheshire Cat smirked evilly.

"Then-," Aslan started when Seiko suddenly spoke up:

"I want something white." His eyes never wavered from the Cheshire Cat. The weird inhabitant leapt off his head. He picked it up and held it over his body, turning it this way and that.

"Well, if I were looking for a white rabbit, I'll ask…the Mad Hatter! I prefer the shortcut…that way!" the Cheshire Cat pointed over to where the path was.

"Ah. You're welcome," Seiko answered. He gently laid his body back on the boulder to stand up.

"And thank you!" the cat answered back when Seiko jumped from the boulder. "Be careful, Seiko. I may have noticed that…you're not all there yourself." The Cheshire Cat's stripes began to unwind itself, making the cat disappear. They still heard his voice echoing, "And the mome raths outgrabe!"

"I can't take anymore of this nonsense!" Meradee leaned on a flower stalk. "It's too painful to continue!" Alice couldn't help but smile at Meradee.

"I'm pretty sure things would get better soon, Meradee. Cheer up!" she patted his back. Seiko walked over to his friends. His expression was serious yet traced signs of confusion and deep thought. What did the Cheshire Cat mean by that? That he wasn't all there himself? He wished he could have asked the cat before he disappeared. But he wasn't entirely sure _how _to ask the cat. His other question was…purely instinctive. There was no way to explain why he decided to ask the Cheshire Cat that. Nor could he explain how he knew that the creature's name was Cheshire Cat…Seiko suddenly felt somebody hit the back of his head. The boy's hands flew to rub the sore spot. Aslan shook a finger in Seiko's face:

"Don't do things like that anymore! All right, Seiko?" The boy nodded in response. Aslan looked at the kid's eyes closely before sighing. He felt like he was looking in a pool of nothing, of no response. But it seemed like Seiko got the message. Aslan couldn't help it. His older brother instincts surfaced when he saw shorter Seiko on top of that boulder. His instinct fading away, a smile replaced the anxious look, "Sorry about that, Seiko. I was just really worried. Now, what was all that about?"

"Well…I don't know," the boy shrugged. "Let's see the Mad Hatter. Maybe he'll have a clue." Again, without waiting for his friends, he went down the road again. Both Meradee and Alice looked up to see the boy already far ahead.

Caught off-guard, Alice belatedly ran after Seiko, "Seiko! Wait up!" Aslan heaved a slightly defeated sigh before grinning. There seemed to be no stopping the kid when his curiosity was caught. Still, it would be nice if he at least waited for his friends a bit before taking off like that. Who knows when they would be another Heartless attack like that last one? On his thoughts about it, he was still disappointed in himself for not being able to finish the Large Body Heartless. Meradee was able to hit it, but Aslan dropped its HP down bit-by-bit only. Aslan sighed. It couldn't be helped. At least now he knew what he should work on.

"Honestly, can't he wait for his friends for once?" Meradee asked in an exasperating tone. Aslan smiled at the boy.

"He can't wait to see what's next. I also can't help but wonder what's going to happen when we go…"

* * *

**Okay! As tradition I dictate now, I will talk with mi characters at the end. Maybe I'll talk to them at the beginning too sometimes.**

**Aslan: Hey.**

**Meradee: Hello.**

**Seiko: *nods***

***glares at Seiko because of last incident* Did you really have to pull down that black screen?**

**Seiko: ...yes...**

***head in hands* Ugh...anyways, as I promised in the last chapter, this time, I will ask Aslan a question.**

**Aslan: All right.**

**Okay! *rubs hands together* Why is it that you worried that Seiko might fall from the boulder, yet paid no attention to him during battle, where more injuries are likely to occur.**

**Aslan: Ooooh...How do I explain it? *scratches head* Well, I think it's because of my clan. We value fighting a lot, so injuries during battle are fine. If you got injured in a battle, hey, it's all right. It's bound to happen. But stuff like what Seiko was doing was just plain stupid. The younger ones do a lot of those things, so I worry a lot about it.**

**I...see...**

**Seiko: Still a bit confusing.**

**Meradee: You're still a bit confusing.**

**Aslan: Meradee...be nice to him.**

**Meradee: Hmmph!**

**Yeah...Seiko's the awkward, quiet kid. Meradee's the A-hole. And Aslan's the big brother! Awesome!**

**Meradee: Hey!**

**Seiko: Like Sora.**

***glares* No..._not __like Sora._**

**Seiko: *grins***


	4. Chapter 4: Mind Wonder

**Wow...it's been so long since I updated this story and stepped foot into this fandom. Sorry about that. I've been real busy with life (stupid college...) and other stories (like Smash!). I actually had this chapter kind of ready the past...months...but then I got stuck on the fighting part. And if you don't have the motivation to write the fighting part, then...this story would take a while to finish. But hey, I got some spark back, sort of. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the continuation of this story. And hopefully, I would actually be able to finish this story. It's actually one of the few that I have an outline for XD. **

**I also changed a few things. First off, both Seiko and Meradee are sixteen while Aslan's eighteen. I don't remember if I specified Seiko's friends' ages but I know I did for Seiko. Second of all, due to my new inspiration with this story, I changed all the Fire spells that Meradee casted in the previous chapters to either Blizzard or Thunder. Anyways, other than that, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Mind Wonder

"And so that was a Large Body Heartless that we fought. Oh, and the cat's name was Cheshire Cat," Seiko bubbled as the group made their way through the forest. Alice listened to the boy intently. Aslan gave an encouraging yet puzzling smile while Meradee attempted to keep his temper from exploding. His new companion just loved to share the information he gathered from this strange world. Granted the information was useful to them, but the way Seiko blabbed about it made it extremely boring for Meradee. At the very least it demonstrated that the boy opened up a bit more to them. Meradee had noticed how Seiko kept to himself a lot. His quiet nature made the purple-haired boy feel that there was more to his newest companion that they should be aware of. However it seemed as though their newest companion was becoming more comfortable with them. He nodded to himself at the thought of Seiko opening up a bit. The trust between them was extremely important and had to be maintained constantly. If not, the whole universe could be at stake. It would be their fault that the worlds fell to the Darkness with no hopes of returning. Just thinking about it made Meradee shiver.

"What a delightful place!" Alice's voice snapped Meradee out of his thoughts. The boy blinked at the long table before him. Covered in a pink tablecloth, it contained various teapots and teacups of all shapes and sizes. Some of the teapots even had more than one spout for pouring tea. Steam rose from other the teapots. Chairs surrounded the table, welcoming the guests to sit. "Why, it's a tea party!"

Noticing Seiko moving towards the largest chair, Meradee stretched out and grabbed the boy's shirt collar. "Oh, no you don't! I'm not letting you set off another trap this time!"

"What trap did I set off last time?" Seiko asked, curious.

"You might this time!"

Aslan grinned at the two younger boys. He patted Meradee's shoulder, "Come on, Meradee. What can go wrong with a table laid out for tea?" _Whatever that is…_Aslan thought to himself. Before the purple-haired boy could stop him, the golden head stepped forward. He sat down in the chair Seiko was aiming for. "See? Nothing's happen-." Aslan felt his heart leapt when the chair underneath him lurched backwards. He slid off of it, tumbling to the ground with a cry of surprise. The chairs disappeared as the table flattened. At once Soldiers, Air Soldiers, and a Large Body materialized from darkness.

Meradee slapped his face at the idiocy of his friends. He resisted the temptation to slap them on their heads while shouting, "I told you so!" Instead he summoned his lyre in recognition that this was no time for a much-needed lecture.

Seiko called out his own weapon. He instinctively moved in front of Alice to protect her. He was slightly disappointed that there were no new Heartless for him to gather data, but the boy shook the thoughts away. That wasn't important right now. The Keyblade wielder charged forward, bringing his Keyblade down on a defenseless Soldier. Without responding to the floating heart, Seiko rolled to the side.

The Air Soldier missed its intended target and flew straight at Aslan. The young man slashed one attack to rid that Heartless before turning to face the Large Body. At the sight of the familiar enemy, he growled loudly. He hated how before he wasn't able to handle the Heartless. Aslan ran towards it, his teeth and weapons bared. As the Large Body attempted to punch him, Aslan slid below the fist. He ended up behind the Heartless, now in the optimal position to attack. And he did so without relenting. Aslan could feel his blood pounding at the excitement of attacking the enemy and winning. Even as the other Heartless dove towards him, Aslan continued to slash at the Large Body. The Large Body tried futilely to catch Aslan back in front where he could barely break through. But the lion was skilled in hunting this prey now. He leaped high in the air over the Large Body, a cruel smirk crossing his lips. The young man landed behind the Heartless. He almost ripped the heart out of the Large Body with his final attack.

Worried for his friend, Meradee casted multiple spells to protect Aslan from the surrounding Heartless. He knew that Aslan wouldn't let up at all and would ignore other signs of danger when attacking that Large Body. Or any Large Body that came after them for that matter. In fact, now they wouldn't really have to worry about the dangers of that Heartless after today. Aslan would take care of them. Until he found a new favorite prey to hunt.

The purple hair felt the wind slice behind his back. Even as he turned, he felt another presence behind him. He nodded his gratitude to Seiko, who had taken out the Air Soldier that was close to slashing his back. Meradee kept his expression cool yet felt his heart pounding the fear of getting hit by the Heartless. He had heard stories of how the Heartless easily multiplied by eating the darkness in the hearts of people. He hated to admit it but he knew that he had plenty of darkness in his heart, plenty enough to make Heartless come after him.

Experienced in eradicating the Heartless by now, the battle lasted less than five minutes. The raging light from Aslan's eyes soon faded when little darkness lingered. The three boys drew breath to replace the ones they lost during the fight. Aslan exhaled loudly as he stretched out his back. "Whoo! Didn't think it would be that exciting!" Seiko nodded silently. His eyes were still a bit wide as he stared at his tall friend. Aslan caught the younger boy's look and grinned. "Didn't think I can fight like that, huh, Seiko?"

"You were so…violent…" Seiko muttered. Aslan chuckled a bit.

"Yeah. I try to hide my battle lust. Deep end of the gene pool," he looked over to Meradee. "How'd I do?"

Meradee crossed his arms and turned away. After a moment's silence, he finally muttered his rating, "…A minus."

"Hehe…" Aslan chuckled sheepishly. "Hey, Alice. You all right-?" A cold hand clutched the young man's heart when no girl was in sight. "Alice?" Seiko straightened up from where he was kneeling. His frantic, black eyes also searched for the girl. A panicking feeling rose in his chest when he could see no signs of her.

"Alice!" Meradee yelled. There was no answer. The boy ran a few feet before stopping to scan the area. Still no sign of her. "Where the Jadov's Triangle did she go?!"

"Seiko, you weren't watching her during the fight?" Aslan asked.

The Keyblade Wielder shook his head no. "She was behind me. I assumed she'll be safe."

"Damn it!" Meradee cursed. "Did the Heartless take her?"

"No, they couldn't have. She would have been screaming," Seiko pointed out. "There's no forward paths, so we better backtrack." Once again he didn't wait for his friends. He started to walk back into the forest. Meradee and Aslan hurried after him. All of them glanced around the area quickly, occasionally shouting out Alice's name and waiting for a possible answer. Other than the sound of their shoes on the ground, the forest answered back with silence. Seiko's eyes scanned the familiar tall grass and flowers. There were no traces of Alice nor were there signs of Heartless. However the dirt underneath did feel a bit softer than what Seiko remembered. He looked downwards, a frown creasing.

"Did you find something?" Aslan asked. Seiko didn't answer. Curious at what enraptured him, both his friends also looked down at Seiko's target.

"I don't see anything," Meradee muttered. "Only grass."

"That's it." Meradee and Aslan looked at Seiko with confusion on their faces. Seiko elaborated, "There's grass now. Before, there was only dirt. Why is there grass here?"

"Um…somebody…planted them?" Aslan asked.

The Keyblade Wielder shook his head. "No. We're simply in a different area of Wonderland." Seiko looked up and pointed forward. Meradee and Aslan also looked up. To their surprise, the grass and flowers weren't exactly the same as before. Rather, some of the tall grasses had twined together to form trees with white roses. Tall hedges now snaked the area, creating the Queen's Maze.

"But didn't we retrace our steps?" Aslan asked.

"This doesn't make any sense then," Meradee crossed his arms, tapping his foot in thought. "We didn't make any unfamiliar turns." Seiko looked up at the pale sky.

"…we might have went the wrong way," he suggested. "Nori never sent me to buy groceries."

Meradee just stared at his friend before rubbing his eyes in exhaustion. "…why us…?"

"Because-."

Meradee was unable to hear Seiko's reasoning to his rhetorical question when Aslan grabbed both of their collars. Without noticing that he was choking his friends, the young man jerked them backwards behind a hedge. "Keep quiet!" he whispered as he continued to look from behind the hedge. The two boys landed on the grass with a dull thud.

"What's going on?" Meradee demanded yet he made sure to keep his voice below a whisper. Aslan's brow furrowed as he concentrated on whatever caught his attention.

"Card…soldiers, I think," he whispered despite the obvious confusion and wonderment in his tone. This definitely caught Seiko's attention. He crawled forward to peek from the hedge as well. His eyes gleamed at the odd sight of the red and black cards that seemed to have faces, hands, and feet. They nonchalantly held their spears and halberds as they chatted with each other.

"The Queen's going to start a new croquet game soon," the Ace of Hearts said to its companion.

"Who's challenging the Queen?" the Three of Spades asked.

"A girl," the Ace simply replied.

"That's got to be Alice!" Aslan said excitedly. Meradee nodded.

"That must mean that she was kidnapped while we were fighting. They probably covered her mouth so we couldn't hear."

"Those cards aren't saying anything else," Seiko told his friends as the cards hurried off to see the game. He stood up and started to dash after them.

"Seiko!" Meradee whispered harshly. The boy didn't seem to hear as he followed the cards. "Oh brother…"

"You'll think we'll learn by now to keep Seiko on a leash," Aslan grinned ruefully. His smile disappeared when the sounds of weapons clashing reached his ears. His heart dropped when he looked to where he assume Seiko would be. To his surprise, the boy was gone. In his wake the cards fainted flat on the ground. His eyes scanned the surrounding area for any signs of his friend yet there were none to be found.

"Seiko!" Meradee shouted. No response. He cursed at his new companion's recklessness. As Aslan said before, they should have kept Seiko on a leash. Now they were forced to look for him. Meradee prayed that Seiko wasn't somewhere causing trouble. Although he was used to winding pathways like the Queen's Maze, it didn't appease his irritation as he and Aslan began searching. Now they were calling for both Seiko and Alice. They weren't sure how long they wandered through the maze nor how far they've gotten. It seemed like forever since they were in the tea party area. Fortunately this search soon came to an end. Unfortunately what stopped their pursuit couldn't be considered good at all.

"OOOFFFFFFFFFF WITH THEIR HEADS!" the roar almost shook the whole garden. Both males plugged their ears to stop the awful shouting. Aslan groaned from it, earning a slight look of pity from his friend. Meradee didn't have time to comfort his friend as they were suddenly aware of a thunderous sound. After some seconds of registering it, the magician finally realized:

"It's the Card Soldiers marching! We have to get out of here if we don't want to get caught!"

"But, what about Seiko and Alice?" Aslan asked. "We still have to find them!"

Meradee hesitated. Like Aslan, he didn't want to leave the two lost ones to their own devices, especially Alice. However it could be extremely catastrophic to the world if they continued to meddle in its affairs. As if they haven't meddled in it enough already, Meradee thought bitterly.

His hesitation proved to be fortunate as they soon heard the familiar sounds of combat. Aslan and Meradee shared a look before rushing to the hedge that they were about to turn before hearing the shout. They spotted Seiko engaged in combat with four Card Soldiers. A slightly distressed look was on Seiko's face. Yet, for some reason, the distress was mirrored on the Card Soldiers a lot more than on the boy's. It was odd considering how they clearly outnumbered him.

"Hold on, Seiko!" Aslan raced from their spot. He leaped high into the air, landing on top of a card. The Card Soldier fell forward, flat as a…well, card. The other cards started in surprise at the new threat, almost costing them their lives as the devastating warrior aimed for them next. One was able to shove Seiko off before reaching for the trumpet from nowhere. As he blew a note, he wondered why the Queen's Maze was getting cold. The blare of the trumpet screeched to a stop as ice froze it completely. Meradee rushed to Seiko's side and helped the taller boy up.

"Where were you?!" the purple-haired boy scolded. He didn't have to worry about the other two enemies as Aslan quickly took care of them. He had his newest companion to worry about. Seiko looked crestfallen and shrugged.

"I…got lost," he said simply, not wanting to say that he ran off. Meradee shook his head in disbelief. Honestly, Seiko was just like a little kid. He was impressed before how Seiko was able to discern so quickly that they weren't in the Lotus Forest, but now…

"Don't run off like that next time," Meradee wagged his finger in Seiko's face. He felt like an adult scolding a child for doing something dumb. In a way, he thought bitterly, that was exactly what he was to this group. Sometimes he felt like he was the only responsible one.

Aslan finished knocking out his opponents. He began standing up from his crouched position before freezing for a moment. He turned to his friends. "We have to get out of here! There are a lot more Card Soldiers coming for us!"

Meradee in response pointed to an archway, "This way!"

"Wait! What about Alice? Did you find her?" Aslan asked Seiko. The boy shook his head ruefully. Meradee cursed at that. It was unfortunate that they couldn't find her, but they didn't have a choice anymore. They couldn't afford to be caught by the hundreds of Card Soldiers.

"We don't have time! We have to get going now!" He shoved his two friends towards the exit to prompt them to get moving.

The three males ran towards the archway. The paranoid notion of hearing the many marching feet of the Card Soldiers struck Seiko, causing him to look back to check. To his relief his impression was wrong. Meradee pushed him forward to urge him to keep going and avoid slowing down. However Seiko was then conflicted with them being trapped. As if they just round the corner and the strange beings would be there to capture them. The boy had to shake the idea away, focusing his attention on escaping. They rushed through the archway to be enveloped in darkness. They still didn't slow down until they couldn't hear the mindless march anymore. However there was no use staying in this dark tunnel despite the comfort Seiko took in not having to interact with anything in there. Feeling his way with a hand on the cold wall, he led his small group forward. At once, the scenery changed. Seiko skidded to a stop. Yet he was pushed forward slightly when Meradee bumped into him.

"Why are you stopping?" the shorter boy asked. For a moment, Seiko didn't answer. Then he opened his mouth:

"We're back where we started."

"What?!" Meradee walked past his friend to look at their surroundings. Indeed, they were in the pink checkered room again. The glass table still stood in the middle of the room with its two shrinking and growing bottles. The Doorknob snored away as if the trio never left the room at all. Meradee shook his head in wonder, "How did we get here?"

"Well, I'm guessing that you took the shortcut!" a grin laughed. The three friends searched for the source, finally finding the grin on top of the glass table. Purple stripes suddenly appeared to shape into the Cheshire Cat. "Cat C. Cheshire at your service!" the cat's tail lifted his ears from his head like a hat as he inclined his head in their direction. His wide grin smiled ever so brightly at the group.

"What are you doing here, Cheshire?" Aslan asked. The striped cat grinned evilly.

"The question, Lion, is not what are _you _doing here. It's what are you _going to do here_? Especially with him here!" the Cheshire Cat pointed above him, the grin still on his face. The three friends looked upwards. Amidst the two burning lamps that supposed lit the room, a large creature roared at them. It leaped from the ceiling, landing on the floor with a loud crash. Seiko almost lost his balance from the resulting quake. A slight thrill ran down his spine as an enemy he never seen before stood in front of him.

The Heartless stood on all four, black-and-red striped legs. Its black tail held a blue teapot swinging by its handle. Random playing cards stuck out from its body, simulating a winding staircase. But the most noticeable feature of it was its head. It had four faces, each in the shape of one of the playing card suits. The head constantly switched faces. All had beady yellow eyes that stared and razor-sharp mouths that watered at the three boys. Its Heartless emblem was, in fact, the face containing the suit of Hearts. To Seiko, the huge Heartless resembled a Sphinx. He surmised that the face of Hearts was its true face.

"What in Jadov's Triangle is that?!" Meradee quickly whipped out his lyre to get ready for battle. Aslan ran his cestus together to further sharpen them in preparation.

"Seiko, your Keyblade would come in handy right now!" the taller boy hinted. Seiko nodded in confirmation. His Keyblade appeared in a flash of white. He pointed the tip at the Heartless, a laser shooting from it. Once it hit, the data was _Registered_:

_Card Sphinx. A large Heartless with faces resembling the four suits of cards. Each face is resistant to a type of magic. It is well-versed in both physical attacking and magic. Watch out for the teapot with contains a large amount of flames that ignite on contact and spews tea. Continually aim for its faces. Hitting the face of Hearts would do the most damage._

"Be careful, Meradee," Seiko informed. "I'm not sure which face is resistant to which magic." The magic-user shrugged.

"That won't matter. I can hold my own."

"If you're not used, then that's too bad!" the Cheshire Cat grinned before disappearing. The Card Sphinx roared loudly. It whipped its tail forward, the teapot flying through the air.

"Scatter!" Seiko yelled. He gripped his Keyblade tightly while Meradee and Aslan leaped out to the sides. Focusing on the incoming teapot, Seiko swung his Keyblade like a bat. His mind went blank briefly at the loud crack of the teapot against his weapon, his ears and arms ringing from the impact. He noticed how a jarring weight suddenly left as he sent the teapot back at the Heartless. Despite the situation, Seiko couldn't help grinning slightly at his homerun. The blue object homed in on the Card Sphinx's face. Immediately the Heart face turned for the Diamond face to roar loudly at them. Even though the pot literally exploded in the Heartless's face, it didn't seem to falter in its movements. The Card Sphinx used its powerful legs to spring forward. Seiko rolled out of the way just in time. His blood pounded in his ears as he quickly ran in another direction in an effort to get away from the Heartless.

The Card Sphinx, feeling nothing underneath its paws, searched the surrounding area for its prey. As its head turned, Meradee skidded in front of it and strum five distinct keys. The screeching sound caused the Heartless to growl in irritation. It pawed at its ears briefly before switching its face again to a Spade. At the start of the exchange, Aslan ran up its leg to reach its face. He gritted his teeth from the effort and finally landed on the Sphinx's back. The face of the Clubs looked at him with dull eyes. Aslan proceeded to slashing the face with all his might. He was too busy focusing on the card that he didn't notice the tail coming for him. His heart skipped a beat at the boiling sensation on his side. The teapot exploded right beside him, knocking Aslan off the Card Sphinx's back.

"W-whoa!" he shouted, feeling the wind whooshing in his ears. He twisted his body in a matter similar to that of a cat before landing on all fours. Another sensation assaulted his side. Aslan let out a _whoomp _of air at the impact. He was briefly conscious of a rumbling thud behind him. When he cleared his mind, he saw Seiko pushing himself up. A large paw cracked the tiles behind them. Despite the situation, Aslan gave a shaky grin. "Thanks, Seiko."

His friend simply nodded in response, his eyes not leaving the Heartless. He saw how Meradee was on top of the table engaging the Card Sphinx. The shorter boy danced left and right to dodge the lightning bolts the Card Sphinx rained on him. Occasionally he would respond with his own ice magic. His attacks seemed to be effective, until the large being roared and switched its face to that of the Clubs. Meradee quickly stopped his attacks when he saw how the Heartless took them like they were nothing. A giant paw came from above, forcing the short boy to jump from his optimal position. He broke his fall with a roll and was back on his feet in no time. However the Card Sphinx rapidly knocked him off his feet with its tail. Meradee had no time to react as the teapot smashed into him. He shrieked at the searing pain of the fire licking his skin. The solid impact sent him flying in the air for a brief moment before he fell to the ground hard. He flinched as the burns continued to sting, a sensation he was unused to.

The Card Sphinx screeched its victory as it prepared to finish off one of the pests it was sent to deal with. It reared on its hind legs in order to smash a paw on the crumpled figure. Meradee barely registered his demise. He was too focused on keeping his tears in from the burn.

"Meradee!" He could hear somebody calling. The boy felt a strange force before him clashing with another. He looked up with blurry eyes to see a furious Aslan blocking the paw with his crossed cestuses. "Get…AWAY FROM HIM!" Aslan's roar rivaled that of the Heartless. Gathering all his strength he thrusted the paw away and caused the Card Sphinx to lose its balance. The angered warrior ignored his injured friend in favor of eradicating the Heartless in front of him.

Fortunately Seiko hurried over to Meradee's side. He carefully examined his wounded friend. His heart leapt in his throat when Meradee whimpered slightly from the sting of his burns. Seiko's mind raced at what he could do for his friend. If only he knew how to cast magic, perhaps he would be able to use Cure. Unfortunately he barely knew how to make a small spark of fire, let alone heal somebody of their burns. Aslan was too busy keeping the Heartless occupied. However Seiko doubted that the scary warrior knew magic. That was in Meradee's forte.

As he pondered whether Meradee was strong enough to drink a potion, Seiko felt a calming feeling wash over him. Meradee glowed a soft green, the same green that outlined his Keyblade now. Seiko watched in surprise as the burns slowly disappeared from his friend's skin. Soon it seemed like the magician wasn't touched at all. He shook his head to clear his daze.

"Seiko? How…?" the shock was obvious in his voice.

"I think it's ironic, but you think even you should know, right?" the Cheshire Cat grinned. Seiko stared at the purple-striped cat. Did he just bestow the power of Cure on him? He had to admit that he was truly grateful for that. Seiko drove away the panicked feeling that struck him again when he thought back to how helpless he felt at his friend's side.

"Can you still fight?" Seiko asked. Meradee stood up in response. Now that the burning sensation was gone, he could fight like he was supposed to.

"Of course I can," he responded confidently. He nodded his gratitude to Seiko before rushing forward to help out Aslan. Both the Heartless and the warrior were quite exhausted now. Though only one more blow was needed, Aslan couldn't get through the Card Sphinx's defenses. He growled in annoyance at how the monster could stop each and every one of his advances. Whenever he tried to strike the face of the Heart, the Card Sphinx always quickly switched to a different face to protect itself.

Seiko dashed after Meradee towards the Heartless. A thought suddenly struck him as he watched Aslan struggle. He shouted over to Meradee, "Could you lower its defenses somehow?"

"Way ahead of you!" Meradee responded. Once he deemed that he got close enough for his magic to be effective, the magician stopped. He strummed one resounding key on his lyre. At once a dark orb with electricity crackling around it appeared near the Card Sphinx. The Heartless's whole body immediately crashed to the floor under the influence of Meradee's powerful Gravity. Though it attempted to resist the pull, Meradee's anger at the pain it caused him made the spell even more powerful. It saw its initial opponent aim for its face. It quickly changed into the Spade face. However it miscalculated.

Aslan wasn't entirely aiming for the face. Instead he struck the Heartless in such a way that he forced the Card Sphinx's head to spin into that of the Heart face. By that time, Seiko was already in position to slam his Keyblade into the most vulnerable area. The painful roar stopped abruptly as the Card Sphinx's body disappeared in multiple particles. Seiko landed on the ground safely. He was caught off-guard by Aslan's sudden slap of approval.

"Nice one, Seiko!" the young man grinned almost as widely as the Cheshire Cat. Even Meradee nodded in agreement. He was about to say his own congratulations when he was interrupted by the Cheshire Cat.

"Splendid job! Splendid job all of you! I'm simply amazed that you worked so well together!" he laughed. The trio stared up at the strange being. Meradee stepped forward, waving his lyre at the cat.

"I have half a mind to freeze you right there, Cat!" he growled. "Why did you send that Heartless on us?!"

"…because it's loads of fun!" The Cheshire Cat simply grinned. He continued to stare at them with his wide grin. However, something about the air around him made the trio shiver in unison. The Cheshire Cat continued, "The Darkness hides in the most obvious places. It'll be fascinating to see what you do once you come face-to-face with it, my friends."

"Wha-what are you talking about?"

"'Twas brilig, and the slithy toves. Did gyre and gimble in the wabe!" he sang. "All mimsy were the borogroves…" The Cheshire Cat began to disappear with a wave of his tail. The move startled them, and Seiko was the first to react. He held out a hand to implore the Wonderland denizen.

"Wait!"

The tail paused. It reversed its movement to allow the Cheshire Cat to reappear again. "Oh there you are! But it's the second chorus's turn to find what you can't! So run along now, my friends. We'll sing the third chorus later!" The Cheshire Cat laughed with his tongue wagging out like a tail. Once again, he began to disappear with the parting words, "And the mome raths outgrabe."

"…Let's get out of here," Meradee muttered as he shook his head. He couldn't take anymore of this nonsense. The sooner they left, the better.

"But what about Alice?" Aslan asked. "We can't just leave her alone. What happens if the Heartless find her? We have to find her!"

"Aslan, as much as I want to find her too, we can't," the magician argued. "We don't have enough time and we still have to find the king written in the scrolls. Besides, didn't you hear what that cat said? _Somebody else would find what we can't_. I think that if we even try our best, we still wouldn't find Alice. So we might as well use our time productively."

"Are you sure that's what the cat meant?"

"Positive."

As his friends continued to argue over what to do, Seiko stared intently at the sleeping Doorknob. For some reason he really wanted to go over there and wake him up. He was about to do so when he heard somebody calling to him.

"Come on, Seiko! We're leaving!" Meradee yelled. "And I want you close to us so you don't run off again!" Seiko turned to see his friends waiting. He noticed how disappointed they both seemed to be but decided not to comment on it. He had heard a bit of Meradee's argument to leave, and he had to agree that the shorter boy was right. It seemed as though the Cheshire Cat was discouraging them from looking, telling them that it would be futile. The cat might have been extremely weird, but something about the strange being told Seiko that he could trust him.

"C-Coming," he replied. Some instinct prompted him to look one last time at the Doorknob before hurrying after his friends to board their Gummi ship. Perhaps if he had stayed a little longer, he would have seen the shining Keyhole when the Doorknob yawned hugely.

* * *

**And there you have it! That completes our Wonderland segment! Bet you guys can't guess where we're going next!**

**Meradee: Let me think...Deep Jungle.**

**No! I already told you it's not a complete rewrite of Sora's adventure!**

**Aslan: *laughs* We know, we know. We're just teasing you, Blade.**

**Humph. Anyways, let's get down to the question. Let's see...hello, Seiko.**

**Seiko: ...**

**What can you tell us about your sister, hmm?**

**Seiko: She's very nice and she cares about me a lot and she protects me from a lot of things.**

**Anything else to add?**

**Seiko: I hope to find her soon.**

**And you just might...anyways, that's it for this chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to see you guys soon once again! I still have other stories to work on though...but anyways, how about a preview to the next chapter?**

**Chapter 5: Joining the Hunt, where they arrive in a world that Aslan is quite comfortable in with his animalistic strength.**

**See you guys next time!**


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